Creating a simple, minimalist, pure html page

Joel Dare — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 13:14:35 +0000

Imagine a web page that loads instantly, deploys effortlessly, and never needs a security update.

I’m using pure HTML and CSS to accomplish that and to build things in a fraction of the time.

In this micro-lesson I'll show you how I create a simple, minimal, pure html page. Here's a quick overview of the steps.

Create a directory and change into it
Download a simple html template
Add a splash of style

We'll be using the command-line. You should know how to use the command-line, your web browser, and your favorite text editor.

Create a directory and change into it

From your home directory we're going to create a directory called purehtml and switch into it. Run these two commands.

mkdir purehtml
cd purehtml

Download a simple html template

We're going to download a tiny boiler plate html file, as index.html. Run this command:

curl -o index.html https://neat.joeldare.com/blank.html

Now open the index.html file in your web browser to take a look.

Add a splash of style

We'll add a tiny bit of style by downloading neat.css. Neat is a minimalist css file that's just 3Kb.

curl -O https://neat.joeldare.com/neat.css

Open the file in your browser again to see the new style. Notice the page works in both light and dark modes.

Now that you have the base page, add your own title and a little bit of text.

Get a free crash course

This is an excerpt from the first lesson of the Five-Day Neat Starter Email Course. Want to build your next site in pure HTML and CSS? Join the list and build a lean, production-ready page before Friday.

Email Me the Crash Course

DEV Community: Joel Dare

Creating a simple, minimalist, pure html page

Create a directory and change into it

Download a simple html template

Add a splash of style

Get a free crash course